The Princeton Laptop Orchestra is a six-person ensemble that performs music via computers. The performers sit on the floor with computers on their laps, explains NPR, with six-sided speakers next to them. They play original compositions written for the laptop.
Students play their laptops with a new music language — known as ChucK — written by Princeton computer science doctoral student Ge Wang.
ChucK differs from Apple’s GarageBand or Fruityloops software in that it encourages performers to modify code on the fly, while they are performing. This means that the code, or the score, is different at the end of session than it was when the performance began. ChucK supports MIDI, OSC, HID device, and multi-channel audio.
Princeton’s Sound Lab has lots of free software.
Ableton Live music software can be used as a live performance instrument or for composition. It attempts to do beat analysis of samples to find their meter, then shifts them to fit the loops into the piece’s global tempo.
Bluetooth or wireless USB controllers can trigger sounds for performances. Be your own Guitar Hero. Will the G-Phone, XO or Asus work as a networked performance instrument?
Municipal Wireless Flash Applications might be mobilized to address the digital divide.
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